This blog is not affiliated with the Minnesota Wild or the Xcel Energy Center. I am just a Minnesota hockey guy that loves Minnesota Wild hockey, my friends call me a Wild Freak!Thanks for visiting my Minnesota Wild blog!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Matt Cullen Profile

Meet Matt Cullen, a center for the Minnesota Wild.

As a Minnesota native, Matt Cullen is living the dream every Minnesota hockey player wishes they could achieve, a chance to play in the NHL for their home town team.

Matt Cullen is from Virginia, Minnesota, located in the Iron Range. He played for Moorhead High School and attended St. Cloud State University in Minnesota for two seasons. In the two seasons with the St Cloud State Huskies he recorded 86 points while being named a WCHA All-Star in 1996. After being drafted 35th overall in the 1996 Draft by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Matt Cullen left for the AHL.

In his first AHL season with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks in 1997-1998, Matt Cullen scored 27 points in 18 games, which prompted him to be called up to the NHL. In his debut season that year, he scored 27 points in 61 games. In his next 5 seasons with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks he scored a total of 173 points.

After the 2002-2003 season, Matt Cullen played for the Florida Panthers for 2 seasons. Matt Cullen then played for the Carolina Hurricanes and won a Stanley Cup. A year later Cullen would play for the New York Rangers before being traded back to the Carolina Hurricanes.

From 2007-2010 he played for the Carolina Hurricanes and continued his consistency scoring more than 40 points each year. In February 2010, Matt Cullen was traded to the Ottawa Senators and played 21 games. Finally, On July 1,2010 Matt Cullen returned to his home state where he signed a 3 year, $10.5 million deal with the Minnesota Wild.

Minnesota hockey fans relish in the fact that Matt Cullen was born and raised in Minnesota, but we also appreciate his consistency on the ice and his ability to take and make shots at the NHL level. Be sure to give Matt Cullen a big Minnesota welcome when you cheer him on at the Xcel Energy Center this season.